The Newberry Library Dante Lecture
Thursday, February 10, 2005 ~ 6:00 pm
Dante the Abolitionist: African American Appropriations of the Italian Poet in the 19th Century
Dennis Looney, University of Pittsburgh
In a surprising number of ways, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) has assumed a noteworthy position in African American culture. From such nineteenth-century abolitionists as Frederick Douglass to the contemporary poet Carl Phillips, African American authors and artists have regularly turned to Dante as a source, appropriating his work to suit the needs of their readers. Looney, associate professor of Italian, turns to the roots of this phenomenon to understand the role of Dante in abolitionist discourse, the creation of a "Protestant" Dante in the nineteenth century, and how one post-Civil War Black poet presented the great medieval Italian poet as an abolitionist fighting for the equality of Florentine citizens.
Organized by the Newberry Library's Center for Renaissance Studies with support from the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Chicago.
Funds are available for graduate students and faculty of Consortium institutions to travel to the Newberry Library to attend the Dante Lecture. If you have any questions, please contact the Center for Renaissance Studies.